On the argument structure of complex denominal verbs in Latin: a syntactic approach

In this paper I offer a syntactic approach to the formation of complex denominal verbs in Latin. Two basic types of prefixed locative denominal verbs can be distinguished in this language: location ones “agglutinate” a PP expressing location, whereas locatum ones contain a noun expressing the locatum object. Assuming a syntactic distinction between Incorporation and Conflation in denominal verb formation, I claim that prefixed location verbs are formed via Incorporation (i.e. Internal Merge), whereas prefixed locatum verbs are formed via Conflation (i.e. External Merge). Unprefixed locative verbs can only be interpreted as locatum predicates, but unlike prefixed locatum verbs, they are analyzed as involving a possessive relation and as being formed via incorporation. The present approach also provides an explanation of why Romance locatum verbs, unlike location ones, are not necessarily prefixed. It is also claimed that unprefixed and prefixed locatum verbs in Romance are formed via incorporation rather than via conflation, its reason being related to the typological shift from the presence of a typical conflation pattern in satellite-framed Latin to a lack of it in verb-framed Romance languages. Finally, I show that Latin prefixed denominal verbs and prefixed deadjectival ones are all telic and project a ResultP in syntax. In contrast, this projection can be argued to be absent from unprefixed denominal and deadjectival verbs.

Correspondence between XPs and Phonological Phrases

Bresnan (1971, 1972) establishes an interaction between stress assignment and syntactic movement. We are interested in a restriction on this interaction. We argue that this restriction shows that the constraint STRESS-XP needs to be part of the syntax-prosody mapping and that it needs to be a restriction on a correspondence relation between syntactic XPs and phonological phrases. (A second constraint on the correspondence relation is either WRAP-XP or MATCH-XP.) In the course of our argument, we analyze Bresnan’s interaction between stress assignment and movement within an account in which Internal Merge induces reconstruction effects at both LF and PF.

Movement-based approaches

This chapter discusses how the Minimalist Program (MP) strives to model unbounded dependency constructions and island constraints, and discusses the empirical, theoretical and cognitive status of syntactic displacement (movement), as formalized in terms of Internal Merge. At the present time, modelling filler-gap dependencies via movement faces significant theoretical and empirical issues. There is no parsimonious account of successive cyclic movement in the MP because of the Triggering Problem, nor of convergent and cumulative filler-gap dependencies. Other problems concern island phenomena, which have been argued to follow from core architectural economy constraints, but which make incorrect predictions not only about islands, but also about unbounded dependency constructions more generally. Finally, the MP has also been difficult to reconcile with extant psycholinguistic evidence about language processing. All recent attempts to make the MP consistent with incremental sentence processing adopt phrase-structural information, and abandon movement altogether.

On the bottleneck hypothesis of Verb Second in Swedish

According to the bottleneck hypothesis V2 order is the effect of (a) a feature which attracts the finite verb or auxiliary to Fin, and (b) an EPP-feature which requires a maximal constituent to merge with FinP. There is a strong and a weak version of the bottleneck hypothesis. According to the strong version, the EPP of Fin can only be checked by movement, i.e. internal merge of a constituent with FinP. According to the weak version external merge of a constituent with FinP will do. The strong version cannot be strictly upheld: it can be violated by as-for phrases and adjunct clauses, but the weak version can be. All adverbs and particles in the C-domain that check V2 can alternatively be realized within IP, while no adverbs and particles in the C-domain that do not check V2 can be, which is consistent with the strong bottleneck hypothesis, if the V2-checking adverbs and particles all move initially to spec of Fin. The analysis of the pronoun in copy-dislocation and the particle så as heads in the high C-domain, following Eide (2011), is an important component of the theory articulated.

Explanations and ˋEngineering Solutions'? Aspects of the relation between Minimalism and HPSG

It is not simple to compare Minimalism and HPSG, but it is possible to identify a variety of differences, some not so important but others of considerable importance. Two of the latter are: (1) the fact that Minimalism is a very lexically-based approach whereas HPSG is more syntactically-based, and (2) the fact that Minimalism uses Internal Merge in the analysis of unbounded dependencies whereas HPSG employs the SLASH feature. In both cases the HPSG approach seems to offer a better account of the facts. Thus, in two important respects it seems preferable to Minimalism.

Patterns of Movement Reflexes as the Result of the Order of Merge and Agree

In this article, I analyze patterns of reflexes of Ā-movement found within and across languages: reflexes may occur in all or none of the clauses of the dependency, in the clause where the dependency terminates, or solely in clauses where it does not terminate. I argue that the variation can best be captured by the variable timing of Agree and two subtypes of internal Merge (final vs. intermediate movement steps) triggered by a single head: early movement feeds Agree and gives rise to a reflex; late movement has the opposite effect. Since the subtypes of movement can apply at different points relative to Agree, reflexes may occur only in some clauses of the dependency.

Variation in the pronunciation/silence of the prepositions in locative determiners

We argue that the micro-variation observed in the pronunciation/silence of the prepositional head of locative determiners in Fallese, a dialect spoken in Abruzzi, follows from the option of valuing features by either External Merge or by Internal Merge, given Spell-Out conditions, whereas this option is not available in English and Italian. It follows that the prepositional head is silent in Italian and English, whereas it can be pronounced in Fallese when the Specifier of the locative determiner is not filled. We show that this feature-based approach to micro-variation, in conjunction with principles of efficient computation, makes correct predictions for the pronunciation of the prepositional head in other functional categories, as well as it makes predictions on the diachronic development of locative determiners Latin to Fallese and from Latin to Italian’, otherwise it looks like Fallese is an old stage of Italian.